A Proud Berniecrat for U.S. Congress

In a very real way, this campaign was inspired by Senator Bernie Sanders.

Last May, I took a trip to our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., to see how seriously I wanted to run for Congress.

It was during this pilgrimage -- as I was visiting friends in my old home town of New York City -- that I tuned in to the live webcast of Bernie Sanders announcing his candidacy for President.

Senator Bernie Sanders began his 2016 presidential campaign Tuesday, holding his launch event in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont. Sanders heralded the event as the beginning of "a political revolution" and a transformation of the country economically, politically, socially and environmentally.

This speech was the energetic keynote of my campaign for U.S. Congress.

I had been following Bernie for years, ever since a friend turned me on to him during college (back in 2004, when I was an idealistic 18-year-old canvassing for John Kerry in Pennsylvania the hopes of avoiding another four years of George W. Bush. He said something like, "you gotta check out this socialist Congressman from Vermont. He's all about power to the people."

I continued to pay attention to Bernie in the alternative media over the years, including his "Brunch with Bernie" segments on the Thom Hartmann Show, where he has been speaking on issues like income inequality and getting money out of politics all along.

From the first days of his presidential campaign -- which were also my first days of earnestly testing the waters for Congress -- it was clear that something unique (and something very BIG) was happening. The mainstream media could ignore or downplay this "fringe candidacy" all it wanted, but there was no denying the crowds Bernie was drawing, or his popularity across social media.

And I was right there on Facebook, sharing memes along with everyone else. Cheering him on in the debates. Donating $5 when I could.

You know. Feeling the Bern.

It was clear from the early days of his campaign, though: Bernie was not trying to do this alone. He was calling on all of us to do our part, on every level, to transform this system into something that actually works for our families and communities.

A political revolution.

This campaign has grown in solidarity with Bernie's all along -- from our Lake County for Bernie Sanders table at the September 2015 Lake County Fair, to starting the Lake County for Bernie Sanders Facebook Group, to being endorsed by Berniecrats.net and Elect Bernie Thinkers, to attending the district-wide Democratic Caucus on May 1st and emerging as the second-highest overall vote-getter and an official #Delegate4Bernie at the Democratic National Convention this July in Philadelphia -- where I will stand and fight, work and build, to ensure that Bernie Sanders is the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States of America!

And with alternatives like Wall Street favorite Hillary Clinton and bigoted lunatic Donald Drumpf, it really is #BernieOrBust!